A dozen training officers, each with a hard body and bulging biceps, marched into the front of a classroom and stared down a motley group of new cadets. "We look at them like they're a bunch of sleazeballs," Deputy John DeAngelis said of the training staff's first encounter with cadets of the 74th San Diego County Sheriff's Academy. Most of the cadets, in their 20s, had no idea how to respond to the icy greeting. They squirmed in their chairs and wiped beads of sweat from their anxious faces.

Retired Army Lt. Gen. Sidney Berry, a decorated combat veteran of the Vietnam and Korean wars who led the U.S. Military Academy during a turbulent period in the 1970s when a cheating scandal rocked West Point months before he was forced to admit the first female cadets, has died. He was 87. Berry died July 1 of complications from Parkinson's disease at a retirement home in Kennett Square, Pa., said his daughter, Nan Berry Davenport. In 1974, Berry, at age 48, was named superintendent of West Point.

In the still of a cold November evening, a small gathering of pagans, led by two witches, begins preparations for the coming winter solstice. But these are not just any pagans, and this is not just any setting. They are future officers of the United States Air Force practicing their faith in the basement of the Air Force Academy's cadet chapel. Their ranks are slim. According to the academy's enrollment records, only three of 4,300 cadets identified themselves as pagans, followers of an ancient religion that generally does not worship a single god and considers all things in nature interconnected.

Four hundred police cadets suffered food poisoning after a meal that ended their holy Ramadan fast, the official Kuwaiti News Agency reported Sunday. The agency said 130 cadets from the police academy required hospitalization after Saturday night's meal, which was prepared by the national catering company.

One police officer stands alone ("Defense in King Case Clashes With Officer," March 5). His name is Sgt. Mark John Conta. He has shown the integrity and courage that should be associated with the LAPD. I can only hope some of that will "fall through the cracks" to the rookie cadets. GARY G. LAUX Yorba Linda

It is obvious that Podhoretz does not understand the satirical thrust of "Catch-22." Does he also miss the point made by "Fail-Safe" and "Doctor Strangelove?" Let's hope our cadets at the Air Force Academy don't. ANTHONY J. RUFFOLO La Canada Flintridge

Regarding The Citadel: The Jan. 22 letters included two from readers criticizing The Times' editorial about female cadets, as well as the court's actions in this matter. Both letters condoned The Citadel's position. The main point that most critics miss is that the acts of hazing and fierce intimidation, if carried out against enlisted men, would be felonious abuse of authority. Such actions perpetrated on one's fellow officers would be simply unthinkable. There is absolutely no objective proof that a cadet who "can take it" comes out a better officer.